Boleyn's cut-off point

Call me cynical, but is the recent push to recruit student, single-parent and jobless members to the Unite union (Unite to offer 50p membership, 18 July) a way of offsetting the cost of the "golden goodbye" reported to have been paid to Derek Simpson, the former joint general secretary (Union in £500,000 'golden goodbye', 19 July)? Any takers? How much pressure is this putting on their finances if they can afford such a ridiculous payout?

Les Forester

Halifax, West Yorkshire

• I feel the need to point out a rather glaring – if common – lapse in your review of Anne Boleyn at Shakespeare's Globe (19 July). The review alludes to the eponymous character coming on stage carrying "her own decapitated head in a bag". Even allowing for artistic licence, a head cannot be decapitated; it can, however, be severed, which would normally – though apparently not in this particular case – leave its owner in that state.

Andrew McGuire

Leicester

• I am bemused by the [apparent increase in the] use of [square] brackets in [your] features and articles. Is there a reason [or a name] for this [phenomenon]? It seems to be [most] prevalent in your use of [reported] speech. If I am [ever] interviewed by a [newspaper] columnist, do I need to say "square bracket" and "close square bracket" at the [appropriate] point, or should I rely on the interviewer [or editor] to insert them [where they see fit]?

Michael Denton

Manchester

• Your editorial (In praise of gasometers, 20 July) is surely a measure of how quickly we have forgotten Brian Johnston and co and their periodic reminders of the difference between gasometers and gasholders.